Closer

It was her curiosity ...

... which long after this surprising discovery prevented Gina from calming down and being able to go to sleep. She sat in front of the fireplace with her large glass of beer, in which she had almost lost all interest in, stared musingly into the flames and tried to be clear about the consequences of her discoveries.

First, she told herself, there seems to be some secret in this house. Although I'm not sure yet whether it's about gambling addiction, as the allegations claim, or something completely different. She put her glass brusquely on the little table, pushed the covers off her knees and began to pace up and down in front of her bed, driven by inner restlessness.

Second, Francis knows about it, but he has nothing to do with it directly, otherwise he wouldn't be watching through the hole in the wall, but would probably be there.

Thirdly, it seems that this thing always happens on Saturday because from the start I had the feeling that I should be deliberately kept away from downstairs on Saturday evenings. Fourth, are there any more people I know involved? Gina finished her pilgrimage and stopped again in front of the fireplace, where her gaze fell on the small table and the thriller on it.

She had to grin and the tension that had been taking hold of her until just a moment passed away. I act like a detective in a crime thriller! She picked up the novel, flipped through the hundreds of used pages with her thumb and enjoyed the smell that is especially attached to the works that have long been in a library.

He gave her a feeling of how many people had already made a cozy evening with this story in bed, on the sofa or in an armchair.

She almost said that she could see these people in front of her, except all of a sudden the librarian, sitting on a hard kitchen chair, appeared in this row of dream images and Gina was startled back from her thoughts. But then another idea came to her: Fifth: Can Francis actually trigger these feelings in everyone with his language or is it just me? His parents do not seem to be influenced by this phenomenon, at least outwardly.

She sat down again and took another sip of beer. It was clear to her that she couldn't just leave these points in the room without at least trying to satisfy her curiosity. Even if it included the risk of annoying her employers. So she had to be careful in any case, because otherwise she would risk not being able to see Francis again and that would be very difficult for her.

Much in this house seemed to revolve around Francis. Francis! She felt the slight pressure on her chest that precedes a sigh.

She was startled after glancing at her watch and reluctantly began to get ready for bed. She wasn't really tired, but the next day she had to get up early again.

The almost burned down log fire flared up again when she opened the window wide for a brief moment to let fresh air into the room.

She quickly pulled a cardigan over her nightgown, then leaned briefly out of the window, looked in the direction of the harbor and took two or three deep breaths. The cold wind from the sea had started to spread hoarfrost on the roofs, the streets and the cars, so that she was about to step back from the window when she suddenly saw the Reverend stepping out of the neighboring house on the left.

He exchanged a few more words, incomprehensible to her, with someone who was invisible, shook his hand in parting, took his black prayer book in his left hand and obviously made his way home.

Gina thoughtfully locked the window and went to bed. Hopefully nothing unpleasant had happened next door, that you had to call the Reverend in the middle of the night. But she would probably find out tomorrow through the local rumor mill.

Contrary to expectations, Gina fell asleep quickly and after a short, dreamless sleep she woke up the next morning just in time to hear Mr. Drake's breakfast call. Apart from the smoothness on the streets and the glittering frost that had spread everywhere outside, both of which ensured that even fewer tourists found their way into the pub at lunchtime than usual, this Sunday was just like the previous one.

There were no particular ups and downs for Gina, apart from the fact that she again didn't see Francis all day. When she was having an impromptu lunch after lunchtime with a seemingly satisfied Drake couple, the question was on the tip of her tongue whether something serious had happened in the next house that night because the Reverend had to be called, but something made her hesitate.

A little later she had forgotten the question when Mrs. Drake announced that she wanted to start fetching the Christmas decorations from the attic and checking them during the afternoon break.

Gina got shiny eyes. "That's nice! I love the Christmas season. May I help? ”

Mrs. Drake was visibly pleased with so much shown zeal. "Of course. After all, there is a lot of work to be done in addition. And you, my dear, ”she turned to her husband,“ could do the dishes in the meantime. I'll send Francis down to help you. ”

Together they went into the stairwell. For the first time she would see the apartment where Francis was at home. She would get an impression of his life that was hidden from her. Gina smiled inwardly, she felt she was taking another step towards being accepted by the Drakes.

While the guests' rooms, one of whom she occupied herself, faced the harbor side of the house, the first floor of the Drake's apartment faced the Harbourlane and its windows looked out over the roofs and gardens of the neighbors. The large dining room and the stairwell had to be located underneath.

"So this is where we live," said Mrs. Drake on the landing. She pointed to an open door to a room. "This is our living room and that big cat on the sofa up there is Mike." She giggled quietly to herself.

“We named him after Paul's father, because he looked pretty much the same in old age, with his red hair and the graying spots in it. And over there ”, she pointed to the two rear doors,“ are our bedroom and bathroom. We have to go up one more floor. ”And together they climbed the next, somewhat steeper flight of stairs.

"Francis!" The door to the room facing the street opened and Francis looked questioningly at his mother.

"Please go to your father in the kitchen and help him with the dishes. In the meantime, we'll get the Christmas decorations. ”His astonished gaze touched Ginas and the sun rose in her heart for a moment. And Francis, too, smiled furtively behind his hand for a short moment, but his mother had fortunately already turned to the attic stairs and unhooked the flap to the attic with a long pole.

Cold, dusty air fell towards them as they climbed the narrow, wobbly wooden ladder. To Gina's great delight, there was even electric light upstairs, for a moment she was afraid that they would have to find their way there with flashlights or candles. Mrs. Drake obviously knew exactly where to find the decorations, so Gina didn't have much time to look at the treasures from the past decades that were stored up there. She loved these testimonies of the past as much as she loved old books, as they revealed so many private things about their owners.

Together they pulled and pushed the bulky box to the skylight and to the edge of the ladder. Then they looked at each other and had to laugh, even together they would never manage to transport them down safely. Suddenly Francis stuck his head through the opening and signaled with a wave that he would help them.

Francis held the container from below and the two women lay down lengthways in the attic and grabbed the handles to absorb at least part of the enormous weight. Nevertheless, Francis almost stumbled on the last meter and was just able to put the Christmas collection, which had grown enormously over the years, safely on the floor.

Completely filthy and dusty, the two women returned to the pub with their heavy luggage. They spent the rest of the afternoon tacitly looking for new decorations and handing them out around the restaurant.

And while Mrs. Drake was telling anecdotes from the life of an innkeeper, small candlesticks were placed on the shelves against the walls, although individual copper pots had to be replaced, and mistletoe branches with tinsel and balls were tied to the candlesticks and roof beams with laughter. At some point the clock over the counter struck five.

Paul Drake unlocked the front door again and the two women had to interrupt their decorating work for better or worse.

“Thank you Gina for helping me. I wouldn't have achieved so much alone for a long time. And I think I haven't laughed as much at work in a long time as

I did this time. ”

“ I enjoyed doing that. And I really mean that, because I really enjoyed it. ”

“ Nice! That pleases me. And besides, people get to this also a bit more familiar. "

" Exactly, "Gina said," now we should but we move! "

Nodded Mrs. Drake and the two women went to their rooms to change into something fresh.

Something It was definitely a good thing, Gina stated, we definitely got closer!